“The 3 Things You Must Do in Your Online Marketing”

Online marketing is not getting any easier as the internet moves forward.  And a variety of choices to put your marketing message out there and establish your brand is both a blessing and curse.

The good news for online marketing is that it’s easier than ever to target your audience and find where they are on social media platforms.  If you’re a B2B business, it’s obvious that you should mine LinkedIn.  If your demographic skews younger, Instagram is a good bet (but Gen X and boomers are catching up on there slowly). Of course reaching just about anybody on Facebook through both organic, chatbots and Facebook Ads is always a good bet.  

But no matter what your message is or how you’re reaching your audience through your online marketing strategy—whether it’s your website, social media or retargeting—you need to do three things:

1. Get their attention.  In the cluttered and noisy online world, it’s important to grab the attention of your audience first and foremost.  A business not only has to differentiate itself today to stand out in its industry, but also has to grab the attention of its audience long enough to communicate its marketing message.  This is where the creative aspect of your message is just as important as the content itself.  

  It’s not enough to put up images and memes on Instagram—either in the feed or in IG stories— with witty sayings. The images themselves have to be sharp, clear and get the viewers attention.  You also need to pay attention to the types and sizes of fonts you use. There are probably more bad examples on there than good.  But you’ll always notice the ones that are getting the most likes and engagement because they stand out in an obvious way. And I’m not just talking about good looking girls in bikinis here (although, I must admit, you don’t need to worry as much about fonts with these images.)

2.  Attempt to engage with them.  If you’re going to post on ANY social media platforms make sure you respond to your tribe when they comment. That’s the “social” part of these platforms and that’s how you build trust and credibility with them. I see people ignoring this part of their posting all the time and am astounded at why they would do that.  Social media is a necessary and should be an ongoing strategy for your online marketing efforts and interacting with your followers is crucial. 

3. Provide value upfront.  The days of putting your product or service out there and then immediately expecting people to buy are long over.  There are so many choices for people with stiff competition in virtually every industry, that building a relationship with people is critical today.  Giving them information that will help them in their business or lives is the way to build the trust and credibility you need to turn them into buyers.  You need to inform, educate and entertain your audience in order to get them to trust you as the brand to buy from.  Putting lead magnets on your website with valuable content of high perceived value to your ideal customers is not only a good way to build your email list. It’s also a great way to establish your business as the go-to business for whatever you’re selling. You position yourself as the “expert” in your industry when you do this.  

If you can keep the three elements above at the forefront of your thoughts when doing any kind of marketing online, you’ll have a much better chance of establishing your brand, building your tribe and converting them into paying customers more quickly.